Advertisement

WWI 'sacred soil' ceremony

'Sacred soil' from World War One battlefields has been carried through London today on their way to a memorial garden which will mark next year's 100th anniversary of the start of the conflict. British and Belgian children collected the soil.

Soil from WWI battlefields to be carried to memorial

Members of the British and Belgian miltiary stand in salute in front of the sacred soil aboard the Belgian Frigate Louise Marie. The soil is for the new Flanders Fields Memorial Garden, and as a special gesture to its arrival in the UK the Tower Bridge was raised fully in compliment.

Seventy sandbags of soil from battlefields in World War One will be carried through London today as part on their way to a new memorial garden which will mark next year's 100th anniversary of the start of the war.

Members of the UK and Belgium military salute in front of the sacred soil aboard the Belgian Frigate Louise Marie. Credit: Laura Lean/PA Wire/Press Association Images